Many financial institutions and other businesses or entities generate a large quantity of mail on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis, and the cost of producing and delivering this mail can be significant. Accordingly, steps to decrease cost and increase efficiency in the mailing process has the potential to save a great deal of time and money. One way to decrease mail costs is to take advantage of bulk discounts. For example, the U.S. Postal Service offers discounts based on “zip code density,” or the number of pieces being delivered to a particular zip code. In the current system, the best postage rate available can be achieved by mailing a critical number of mail pieces (currently 150) to a particular five-digit zip code. Next-best discounted postal rates can be achieved by mailing a critical number of pieces to a particular three-digit zip code, having the first three digits identical. For example, the zip codes 60606, 60610, 60614, and 60657 would all fall under the same three-digit zip code (606XX). The U.S. Postal Service also requires a manifest listing the relevant mail pieces in order to get the aforementioned discounts. Other delivery services may have such discounts or incorporate them in the future.
Various methods have been used to arrange mailings in order to achieve such postal densities. Among the most prevalent of such methods is physically sorting the printed and enveloped mail pieces and generating a manifest, prior to transferring the mail pieces to the Postal Service for delivery. The time and cost of physically sorting the mail pieces thus increases the total cost of mailing. Additionally, this sorting service is often performed by third-party service entities, which may require delivery of the mail to a separate sorting site prior to transferring the mail to the Postal Service. This separate step may further increase the cost and time consumed by mailing. As such, these and other prior systems and methods have certain drawbacks and disadvantages.